Elevator systems are in widespread use for carrying passengers between various levels in buildings, for example. Access to an elevator car requires that elevator car doors, which are attached to the elevator car and move with the elevator car as it travels within the hoist ay, open when the car is at a landing at which a passenger desires to board the elevator car, for example. Each landing includes hoistway doors that do not move with the elevator car, but do move synchronously with the elevator car doors between open and closed positions.
There are various known arrangements for coupling the elevator car doors to the hoistway doors so that the door mover that causes movement of the elevator car doors also causes desired movement of the hoistway doors. Most arrangements include a pair of vanes, each having a vane surface, supported on the elevator car door structure and a set of rollers supported on the hoistway door structure. When the rollers are received adjacent the vanes when the elevator car arrives at the landing, it is possible to move both the elevator car doors and the hoistway doors together. The movement of the elevator car doors causes one of the vanes to push on one of the rollers to move the hoistway door in one direction and the other vane to push on the other roller to move the hoistway door in the other direction.
Typically, when an elevator car is outside the unlocking zone, the hoistway doors or elevator car doors are arranged such that they cannot be opened more than 4 in. (102 mm) from inside the elevator car. The hoistway doors or elevator car doors may be unlocked when the elevator car is within 3 in. (76 mm) above or below the landing and may be permitted to be unlocked up to 7 in. (178 mm) above or below the landing.
Previously, elevator car doors were permitted to be unlocked up to 18 in. (457 mm) above or below the landing. In the prior art configuration shown in FIG. 1, the hoistway interlock roller 2 is shown with respect to the coupler 4 when the opening height is 8 feet. In the present arrangement, a passenger may manually attempt to unlock the car and hoistway doors if the elevator car is within 18.1 inches of the landing in the up direction.
In the prior art configuration shown in FIG. 2, the hoistway interlock roller 2 is shown with respect to the coupler 4 when the opening height is 7 feet. In this arrangement, a passenger may manually attempt to unlock the car and hoistway doors if the elevator car is within 17.5 inches of the landing in the up direction. Each arrangement in the prior art allows for the car and hoistway doors to be opened beyond the required distance. Because the unlocking zone has been reduced, and with different opening heights in the hoistway, the coupler shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be less effective. Due to the change in the unlocking zone, systems with different hoistway opening heights may require multiple door couplers, and as such, increase the cost of the elevator system.
Accordingly, there is a need for an elevator door coupler that can accommodate multiple hoistway opening heights.